The end of another year
Another year is coming to an end. I find that, when reflecting on a year that was, it is easy to fall into the trap of focusing on what I wasn’t able to do, from the (often long) list of things that I wanted to accomplish in the year. I am working hard to focus on what I was able to get done and allowing myself the grace of taking a real and actual break. I always have things I want to do and I constantly need to remind myself that, as per Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, it is impossible to do everything.
Every year, I like to read the multiple posts and articles that look back over the year, like 52 Things I Learned In 2025 and Favourite Books of 2025. (Side Note": I continue to be in awe of what Maria Popova has done with The Marginalian - formerly Brain Pickings).
For the last couple of years, I have put ‘doing my own list’ on my to do list. I was actually able to do something around books in one or two years but this intention ends up hanging over my head well into the new year, so I am not committing myself to any type of list this year.
Except. For myself.
In the spirit of focusing on the positive, I am going to be taking the time off to make a list of the things that I have done this year, whether they were or were not on the list at the beginning of the year. And then I will look at some of the things that would be nice to do in 2026.
I am also hoping to catch up on newsletters, articles and the like that I have bookmarked over the year. My sublime articles to read collection has 55 cards and I have over 500 newsletter emails in my inbox. To be honest, I will probably end up deleting all of the ones older than six months and skimming through the rest.
2025 was a slow reading year in that I fell really short of my target of 60 books. But, I have enjoyed the books that I have read and, more than likely, I won’t be setting a reading target for next year. I’ll just read. So far, I have read 41 books which is something to be celebrated, methinks. It isn’t about the number but rather what I gain from the reading.
2025 was a good year for my podcast. We expanded to include video. We published every week, except for two weeks, in a year that also included a mini-health crisis for me. Being part of Spotify Africa’s podcast programme gave us the foundation to develop a relatively smooth recording and publishing process. I got to have conversations with people who are doing amazing work in their respective fields, gaining from the lessons that life has taught them. And I walked away with practical insights from every single guest on Listen To Your Footsteps. I even had the opportunity to be a guest on my own show.
To be honest, at some stage, I started to get caught up in the ‘analytics’ and what I need to do to promote the podcast even more. After a few weeks of mild panic, I had to remind myself of why I do the podcast which is to both spotlight and learn from who I consider interesting people. If the money comes, the money comes. And I will keep doing it until I cannot or don’t feel like doing it anymore.
I am also trying to remember that rest is necessary and that the best way to start a new year is by easing into it.
What will be, will be. Life is meant to be lived a moment at a time.
Easy
Kojo